Trifecta Wines. Trifecta was founded by Pablo Nyarady and his wife Lynanne; Pablo's winemaking roots in Hungary date back to 1820. Their small winery is located near Tokaji about two hours outside of Budapest. They produce wines from Tokaji in Tokaji and wines from Napa Valley in Napa Valley with winemakers Bill Ballentine and Sam Baxter overseeing their … [Read more...]
Silver Oak
Silver Oak was founded in 1972; their remarkable success story begins with two men, co-founders Justin Meyer and Raymond (Ray) Twomey Duncan (both deceased). Ray was born in South Bend Indiana to parents Walter Sr (a World War I veteran) and Velma Twomey Duncan; he was raised in La Salle, Illinois (population today around 9,500 residents) and graduated in … [Read more...]
Hossfeld Vineyards
Hossfeld Vineyards. Henry and Susan Hossfeld moved to this part of the Napa Valley in 1980 from Marin County. Henry owned and continued to operate a successful home construction and remodel company. After acquiring the property, he and Susan decided to grow crops on site. Initially they looked at planting kiwis but then were encouraged to plant grape vines … [Read more...]
Realm Cellars
Realm Cellars produced their first vintage in 2002, made at Sherwin Family Winery by founding Realm winemaker Mike Hirby. Later vintages were produced at Laird Estate and Chateau Boswell. In addition to their estate vineyards in the Stags Leap District, Coombsville and on Pritchard Hill, Realm Cellars sources grapes from several other premium vineyards … [Read more...]
Pahlmeyer Wine
Pahlmeyer Wine produced their first vintage in 1986, a proprietary red blend. Their first vintages were made at Merryvale Winery; they began producing wine at Napa Wine Co in 1994, where we first met up with them for a private tasting many years ago soon after Napa Wine Co underwent a huge renovation to accommodate production from wineries who do not … [Read more...]
Component Wine Company
Component Wine Company is one of four wine brands part of the Vin Fraîche Wine Group - a collection of sommelier and winemaker created and owned wines ranging from vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington, Bordeaux and Tuscany. The wine brands are Component Wines (Napa Valley & Bordeaux), Gagnon-Kennedy (primarily Napa Valley), SOM, State of Mind (Oregon, … [Read more...]
Outpost Wines
Outpost Winery is located on top of Summit Lake Drive at an elevation of 2200 feet – about 10 minutes outside of the small town of Angwin. This road should almost be called Zinfandel Drive as several other premium Zinfandel producers are located within minutes of Outpost off of this same road. This is in northern Napa Valley's Howell Mountain appellation. As … [Read more...]
Aum Cellars
Aum Cellars is owned and operated by Peter Hoffman, a fellow Cal Poly, SLO graduate who also shares the same somewhat esoteric major as us, a Bachelor of Science, Ecology, Systemic Biology. Peter grew up in and around what was at the time one of California's largest vineyards in Rancho Cucamonga (Southern California). His family has been involved in … [Read more...]
Chateau Montelena
Chateau Montelena is located in the northern part of Napa Valley off of Tubbs Lane (in between old Faithful Geyser and Highway 29). The property is removed from the typical Napa Valley wine route but is well worth the drive for a visit and a tasting. A stop here feels far removed from the busy wine strip south of St. Helena, although it can get very busy … [Read more...]
Scarecrow
Scarecrow was founded in 2003 (inaugural vintage) by artists Bret Lopez and Mimi DeBlasio. But the story begins with Judge Joseph Cohn, Bret's grandfather. Cohn was born in Harlem in 1895; his family was very poor. Lopez remembers visiting his grandparents at their home for dinner and wondering why his grandfather always had two loaves of bread in the … [Read more...]